What about the cross?

A friend of mine asked me an interesting set of questions last week. I put together (some of) what I think in response on my own blog (www.tam121.wordpress.com) ... and then I thought you might want to think about these questions, too, as we are heading into Holy Week. So, take a look, and consider, what does the cross mean to you, today? What does it mean to us, as a community, set in the context of a larger community?

Why is there so much emphasis on the cross in Christianity? It makes sense if the focus is on Jesus' suffering and the way he died for us to make us forgiven of our sins, etc. But I also know Christians who don't see that as being the important message in Christianity, and seem to focus more on the redemptive message of the resurrection. If this is more your point of view, as it is theirs, why would the cross hold such meaning?

It seems to me that, while it's a very important reminder of Jesus' suffering, it's a very depressing icon with which to represent the faith. Wouldn't it be more true to the message to focus on a symbol of redemption and hope and love and grace and justice -- all the things that Jesus' life represented -- as opposed to Jesus' death at the hands of sinners?

Okay, your turn ...

Seeing the "new thing"

In prayer group Monday night, we reflected on one of the Scriptures for this Sunday. It's an old favorite of mine (and probably yours!), and it is perfectly timed for our conversation about HUCC's future and possibilities on Sunday. (Funny how the lectionary does that, so often ....)

Isaiah 43:18-21


Do not remember the former things,
    or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
    now it springs forth,
        do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert, 
to give drink to my chosen people,
    the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

I believe God is about to do a new thing at Hillsborough UCC ... and maybe more than one! With every challenge comes an opportunity for growth and new directions, and as we face into our challenges, I am hopeful that we will discern the directions God wants to lead us in, and follow like spring lambs!

Tammerie

Praying together in the Season of Lent

At HUCC, we are offering many opportunities to connect with others and pray together. HUCC prayer groups are an opportunity to pause and let go of the difficult things that weigh us down and get in the way of a deeper relationship with God, a time to give thanks and express gratitude, and a time to connect with others on the journey to a deeper relationship with God.
There are many opportunities this week--

• Monday (tonight) at 6 pm at HUCC, led by Tammerie Day
• Tuesday, at 9 pm, by toll free teleconference, led by Beth Kennett--877-216-1555 passcode 315882#
• Wednesday, 6:30 pm at HUCC, led by Beth Kennett
• Thursday, 11 am at HUCC, led by Jay Kennett
• Friday and Saturday—electronically at www.hillsboroughucc.blogspot.com

Join us as we grow into a deeper relationship with God.

Peace!

Lenten Reflection

Luke 13:31-35--
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him,
“Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me,
‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow,
and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day
I must be on my way,
because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets
and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you,
you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Reflection from Tammerie Day

Theologian Sallie McFague argues in her book Models of God, that we have confused the metaphors “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit” for God’s actual identity/ies. These metaphors have lost their snap: they sound like names, concrete and unchanging, rather than descriptors of ways we experience God.

In this text, Jesus claims a metaphor for the relationship God wants with us: Can we imagine Jesus as a mother hen? Watchful and willing to guide her chicks to protection and food, pulling us close under sheltering wings? Standing between us and danger?

During this week of Lent, explore the discipline of envisioning Jesus in a new and different way. Are you willing? Or do you insist on your own way of constructing your image of Jesus? What would it mean to enter this protective and yet fragile embrace? Would you feel God’s love differently? Would you feel God’s love?

Worship via Cyberspace

I invite you to scroll through the previous posts below, read the comments, and post your own comments. You are free to post what is stirring in you, your theological reflections, your thoughts on what has been posted, questions for others, etc...

I encourage you to read the bulletin for today as you engage the liturgy that was thoughtfully provided for us by Tammerie Day.

Spend a few moments in prayer for those who gather here and for those who are not able to gather here.

Enjoy this experience as we worship together through cyberspace.

Peace and grace to you on this beautiful winter morning.

LOVE

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not
have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
13:2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but
do not have love, I am nothing.
13:3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so
that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
13:4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or
arrogant
13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable
or resentful;
13:6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
13:8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end;
as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an
end.
13:9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
13:10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end
to childish ways.
13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to
face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been
fully known.
13:13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the
greatest of these is love. (NRSV)

As I read this scripture again, I am struck by how wholistic this passage is. I guess I have always thought about it from the perspective of an individual or one of a couple.

Reading this from the perspective of a parent, or one of a system of people (such as a congregation), and as a part of creation is very intriguing and powerful for me.

What helps my faith, hope and love to grow?

• All of the support and nurture that I receive from those with whom I live in community.
• Theological reflection
• connections with others (HUCC, friends, family)

Reflection: God has invited and gifted us with the wonderful communities of which we are a part.

• How do we benefit from our connections/communities?
• How do we contribute to our connections/communities?
• How is/does our faith, hope and love grow?

The Call of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:4-10
1:4 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were
born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
1:6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for
I am only a boy."
1:7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you
shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I
command you,
1:8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says
the LORD."
1:9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD
said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth.
1:10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck
up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to
plant." (NRSV)

This story of calling has been one of great inspiration for me, especially v. 6. "But God, I can't do it, I am only a boy." (Beth Paraphrase)

I think we do this, or I do this. There are times when I feel a yearning or a draw to use my passions and/or gifts a certain way, yet I don't fully believe that I can do the thing that I am drawn to. There was a time in my life when I might not feel that I should use my gifts or passions in a way that I felt a particular yearning, that I would feel guilty about having so much fun or for something to be somewhat easy. (I have moved on from this!)

I have said many times that God invites us to use all of who we are to be co-creators with God, to make a difference in the world, in the lives of people and creation, to share God's love with others. God invites us to use our gifts and passions! Sometimes those are undiscovered even to us and sometimes our response is about our own fear.

God, I can't possibly do it, I am just a _____.

HUCC, you are that church (in the notes from the Pastors in the Epistle) that was approached by Habitat and our initial reaction was "we can't do it, we are small.) That was the same response when we first began to talk about re-settling a refugee family. Look at what we have done!!!

And even more importantly, look at how these (and many other) experiences have changed our lives!

What would happen if we (I am about to be a bit "cliche") Let go and let God?

What would happen if, when we felt a yearning or an invitation, maybe it is in the form of a strong interest. What would happen if we responded with "help me to follow that path"?

Reflection:

• What is the thing(s) that you are feeling a yearning toward?
• Could it possibly be God inviting you to live your passion(s)?
• How are you filling in the blanks--God I can't possibly __________, I am only a _________.
• How would you/your life be different if you followed that yearning?
• How would those around you be different?